And Just Forget The World
by tealen
Summary: Sometimes he did wish he could go back in time. Where he could just forget the world, when it was just her and him, on his favorite hill, under the cherry blossom tree. ONESHOT. ShikaSaku moments. Contains Before Ninja Academy Days.


**Note:** This my little shikasaku take on how little Shikamaru discovered his most known traits. At the beginning its in their Genin days, but his memories are from the before academy but after Ino befriended Sakura days. **Inspired by Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol**

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Disclaimer: All Characters mentioned belong to Misashi Kishimoto. Except for Hanako...

* * *

Shikamaru sighed. He found himself on his favorite hill again, watching the clouds go by.

_Hey, that one kinda looks like a…deer. _

He sighed again, closing his eyes in concentration.

"Hey Sasuke-kun!" It was _her. _His eyes snapped open. He didn't bother looking around for her. He just listened.

"What is it?" Sasuke said, clearly annoyed.

"Here, some flowers I picked for you"

"Hn," He took the flowers hesitantly in his hand.

He couldn't help but feel a bit sad, so instead of feeling empty he settled for a day dream. He remembered how all _this_ began.

* * *

Little Shikamaru never liked to do anything out of the ordinary. Certainly things that tended to attract lots of attention. No, Shikamaru was none of those whiny little brats who screamed and got what they wanted, He used logic; though he'd never admit it. He didn't know how he ended up like this, but he spent most of his time alone with his thoughts. He had nothing better to do then wander aimlessly around his peers.

He liked to take things slow. His father sometimes even joked about Shikamaru acting older then himself. But if it meant being like _them_, Shikamaru wasn't for the power of youth, not at all. He was a mature _man. _He didn't need to be bothered by things like school work or anything else for that matter. If it came to him, he'd take it. He'd be too lazy to put up any kind of fight anyways. At least, that's what he thought.

He walked in a daze, sluggishly shuffling one foot after the next. Both hands behind his head; oh yes, he was _the _man. He walked right across a battle of cardboard shuriken and kunai. A few hit him, but none faltering his lazy swagger. The cardboard weapons ceased completely. He smirked in satisfaction. Too much pointless fighting happened in this game; which Shikamaru couldn't handle. Though, he did thank kami that he tried it once.

He met a friend named Choji. He stuck up for guy because the others were shamelessly putting him down. Shikamaru liked the feeling of helping someone out in that way. It didn't take much, but the feeling was great. Choji was a really nice guy. Shikamaru knew what he wanted to be when he grew up; he wanted to be a befriend-er.

"Who does he think he is? That Shikamaru is so annoying" A boy whispered like Shikamaru was meant to hear it. He didn't bother to acknowledge them. What'd he ever do to them?

"Thinks he's so cool" he heard another mutter. He didn't think he was cool. In truth, he wasn't trying to be. He was just; mature.

"Pineapple head" He heard another, followed by a fit of giggles. Well that one was new.

"Serves him right to be friends with fatso" Shikamaru gritted his teeth.

He hated kids like them, those who made fun of others just because they were different. He wasn't trying to be different, he just was, and every other person out there _was_ their own person; which meant, everyone was different. He knew that. He continued his walk.

"Hey, Fat Forehead!" He stopped mid-exaggerated step.

Shikamaru groaned in his mind. _What was with all the picking on each other!? _

He knew it wasn't his business, but the lack of a reply caught his attention. He turned to where he thought all the commotion was. His eyes widened. It was _her. _She was only picking some flowers, on a small hill beneath a cherry blossom tree.

A big forehead, eh? If there was ever something to pick on about Sakura it was the fact that her hair was pink.

"You're forehead's too big for this area." He heard the girl shout, supposedly the leader of the pack.

He didn't know if he should meddle or not. Girls were…were a force to _not_ reckon with. Girls were supposedly 'icky' but they were more like scary. Shikamaru never understood their opinions; he had his own. Sakura wasn't, in a sense, scary. She was a pretty little thing that made him smile; a lot. He met her while walking down street shopping with this mother. They exchanged names and said their good byes and trailed alongside their mothers to part ways. She made him feel all weird and warm inside. Though he'd **never, ever**tell her that. Shikamaru knew a lot for an seven year old but he didn't know what was causing _this_.

He didn't know but he knew, for sure, that he wanted to see her happy all the time. And those girls were making Sakura sad.

He would see to it that she'd be happy. He started a slow jog towards Sakura and stopped when he heard _his_ voice.

"Hey, leave her alone" Shikamaru again halted his steps. Of all the people, it _had_ to be him.

"But Sasuke-kun!"

"Beat it!" All the girls retreated expressing their despair through groans.

"This is all your fault! Now Sasuke-kun hates us!".

Sakura looked at her savior.

"Thank you Sasuke-kun" She smiled a toothy smile. A smile that Shikamaru knew all too well. It plagued his mind after all.

"Oh, here are some flowers…for you" She offered up the small bouquet in her hand.

"Hn." Was his only reply before leaving Sakura and the flowers behind.

The way she smiled at him…she was so happy. That's all he wanted, right? Why did he feel so angry?

_I hate you Sasuke Uchiha._

Just as he was about to turn on his heal he heard a very cute voice call out to him.

"Shikamaru-_kun_!?" He turned to her, a subtle pout graced his features. He was already here anyways so why not? He didn't bother to answer, instead he walked five steps and sat beside her.

"So whats up?"

"Nothing" He grumbled clearly upset. "Maybe it was just the fact that I was going to rescue you from those girls, but Mr. **Perfect **had to come along at the **perfect** time and steal it away from me. I was going to make you smile again" It was an innocent, garbled and rushed thing that flew out of his mouth. Sakura caught every bit of it.

He blushed. Did he actually say that?

Sakura's eyes widened then softened as Shikamaru turned his head away in attempt to hide his tell tale sign of embarrassment. He _could_ run

_....nahhh._

She got up and walked over to the other side where she could look at Shikamaru face to face. He was of course shocked, but wasn't ready for what she was about to do next.

She kissed him on the cheek. She pulled away, _smiling._

"Thanks Shikamaru-kun" She blushed as his hand absent mindedly went up to touch where she planted her kiss.

She laid down next to where he was sitting. Still shocked Shikamaru sat; unmoving.

"Wanna watch the clouds with me?" She patted the area beside her. He looked down at her, and then at the sky. He hesitantly laid down next to her, marveling at how the soft grass and the breeze soothed his skin.

This, this was amazing. He watched a cloud slowly morph into something that looked like a deer.

"Look" Shikamaru turned his head towards her, and then at her pointed finger.

"It looks like a cute little deer" His mouth was still open. He only managed a nod in response. She turned to him too and they locked eyes.

_She's really, really, pretty. Her forehead isn't bad at all. She really is different. Unique._

She smiled a genuine smile of contentment. Shikamaru gulped. She turned towards the sky again taking slow even breaths.

"I like watching the clouds" Shikamaru felt like he liked watching clouds too, a lot actually. "It makes me feel like I could just forget the world. The clouds moving carelessly around- they have a purpose, but till then, they wander freely. Without a care in the world. Without a Hanako to call them bad names." She giggled. It was the most beautiful thing he heard. He figured Hanako was the girl.

"So whats going on between you two, you know, you and this Hanako?"

She waved a lazy hand dismissively. "Aww its nothing" her tone light. She paused; her features scrunching into an expression of one deep in thought. "Its all too troublesome"

_Troublesome. _He liked it.

"Sakura!" Sakura's mother called waving her daughter over. "Time for lunch, hunny!" Sakura sat up leaning on her hands. "kay mom!" she yelled back.

She looked at Shikamaru still staring at the sky. He had one hand behind his head and the other shoved into his pocket. He looked really cute.

"Kay Shikamaru, I have to go home now".

His gaze shifted to her. The light around her made her look like an angel. "Kay, bye" was all he could pry for his awestruck brain.

"See you tomorrow?" She said as she stood up and began brushing the grass of her dress.

"Yea, tomorrow." She smiled at him once again and turned to leave.

* * *

As the years passed by, Sakura grew farther away from him. She never watched clouds with him anymore; and never once did she say the word troublesome again. When she entered the academy, she didn't bother to notice Shikamaru and became one of Sasuke's fan girls. Shikamaru let it slide knowing that if it happened, it was for a reason. He still remembered her, though sometimes very bitterly. He couldn't hold it against her, but he somehow grew to ignore her. She didn't remember a thing so why should he? It was all too troubling to put himself under stress.

He remembered a time when he saw Sakura in Ino. He was foolish of course, and tried to explore into it. He concluded that it wasn't the same. Sakura was much too unique. What in the world gave him the impression that he could replace her with Ino. Why would he even want to?

She continued with her obsession with the now, last Uchiha in Konoha; although right now, it was much, much worse while he, earned the reputation of the laziest smart ass kid around.

All Shikamaru wanted now was to live a hassle free life to play shogi, have his two kids and be with his very average wife. Someone with normal hair, boring eyes. Someone not very _unique._

He would always find himself watching the clouds and muttering the word troublesome here and there. He'd always have an effect on her, though she would never know. His first love was; Sakura Haruno.

He opened his eyes when he heard her laughter grow farther and farther away from him. He stared up at the sky through the cherry blossom tree's shade. He got up, dusting the dirt off his person.

He continued to walk home, in his usual lazy demeanor. He never knew why he continued on the traits. He guessed it was the only way to keep her memory with him. It was the only thing that made him content anymore.

Life was moving on, like a cloud moves on with the wind. It'd be too troublesome to fight it, to go against the tide. Sometimes he did wish he could go back in time. Where he could just forget the world, when it was just her and him, on his favorite hill, under the cherry blossom tree.

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**Author's notes:**AHAHA this is my take on what happened when they were little. And how Shikamaru came to be, Shikamaru. So basically, its meant to be corresponding with the actual story so, its like a little secret unbeknownst to us shikaxsaku fan viewers. Teehee. I like to write **ShikaSaku moments**, and not really good with happy **ShikaSaku endings,** but all in all I hope you enjoyed it.

moonsing


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